Tottenville captures SIHSSL crown

Arlind Nika, left, turned in a solid, all-around game for Tottenville, which clinched its first SIHSSL championship on Saturday night. (Staten Island Advance file photo by Bill Lyons)

Tottenville left little doubt which team is Staten Island's best.

Carlo Coladonato tallied twice and the Pirates scored four times in the first 41 minutes en route to their first SIHSSL championship via a 5-0 victory over visiting St. Peter's on Saturday night.

The Pirates not only dethroned the three-time Island champion Eagles (11-7-2), but improved to 17-0-0 overall (10-0-0 in SIHSSL) as they now give their undivided attention to the upcoming PSAL city playoffs. SP finished 8-0-2 in league play.

"Winning the (SIHSSL) championship was our second goal, right after going undefeated in the Island PSAL division,'' said Tottenville coach Ron Nathanson, whose team outshot SP 18-6. "Now we're going to try and win a city championship.

"We play soccer,'' continued Nathanson. "We move the ball; we're unselfish and the kids have bought into how we want to do and they've played terrific.''

"We've got better and better each year,'' added senior fullback Arlind Nika. "The chemistry on this team is great and it's one of the reasons why we're champions.''

In addition to Coladonato, Anthony DiCicco (goal, assist), Dardan Nika and Vasyl Krupa also scored for the Pirates. Marco Mingozzi had two assists while Rudy Alibegu and Adrian Cosovic had one helper apiece.

Tottenville applied a host of pressure on the Eagles early, but thanks to the solid play of goaltender John Eberlein (four saves), including a pair of point-blank shots by Arlind Nika and Christopher McCormick, the game remained scoreless.

But the Pirates' relentless attack finally took its toll at the 24-minute mark when Mingozzi's kick from midfield took a high bounce in the box. With three Tottenville players crashing the net, DeCicco managed to get a header on the ball in close for 1-0 lead.

"We did a good job getting the ball in the box and with three guys attacking the net, anything can happen,'' said Nathanson. "We settled down after that first goal and played our game.''

The Pirates, who received solid defensive work from Oscar Perez, Nicholas Bacarella and Rubin Diaz in front of netminder Joseph Morvillo (three saves), added a second goal five minutes later thanks to a nifty cross by Arlind Nika.

DiCicco attempted another header in close to the left post, but it went wide. Dardan Nika, however, pounced on the rebound to make it 2-0.

Coladonato, meanwhile, tallied twice in a four-minute span that bridged the two halves, first on an assist from Alibegu and later from Mingozzi.

"We had confidence that once we got going, we'd find a way to keep scoring,'' said Coladonato. "We know where each other are going to be abd it's a big reason why we're successful.''

Krupa capped the scoring when he headed home a Cosovic cross with three minutes to play.